Zippin: Taking Off At An Airport Near You Soon

Today I am really proud to share that Zippin is live in not one, but two, international airports: JFK’s Terminal 4 and Tom Jobim International Airport (“Galeão”), in Rio de Janeiro. From the beginning we’ve always believed that transportation—planes, trains, and, yes, automobiles—would be one of the killer deployments for checkout-free retail. After all, shoppers in these environments are always in a hurry, with no time to stand in line. What we couldn’t have foreseen were the labor shortages that the pandemic would bring, making autonomous stores even more compelling to operators in these high-traffic locations.

In Brazil, we are working with our longtime customer, Americanas S.A. to bring their Ame Go brand to Rio de Janeiro’s main international airport which sees 14 million visitors per year. The airport’s first checkout-free store is in the domestic terminal before security, so it’s also accessible to those who aren’t flying, as well as airport staff. It’s been open for a little over a week and is already proving to be highly popular. The store offers a broad selection of products including books, medicines, travel essentials, snacks and beverages

Stateside, we are delighted to be working with JFKAIT, and our joint partner, SSP America, to put in the first checkout-free store in Terminal 4 under the Camden Food Express brand. The store offers a wide range of grab and go snacks and drinks, and as with all Zippin-powered retail outlets, the emphasis is on reducing friction and providing the best shopper experience. Terminal 4 is the busiest of all JFK’s terminals seeing around 21 million passengers per year, who are served by 12,000 employees. 

We’re really looking forward to seeing these stores take off (forgive the pun), and rolling out new Zippin-powered locations at transportation venues around the world. In fact, if trains are more your speed, be sure to visit one of three MRKT stores at Brightline stations in Florida: Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. MRKT offers travelers a large selection of Brightline swag, healthy snacks and prepared foods, beverages, small electronics such as chargers and headphones, and toiletries.